Welcome to week 2, and another full set of events. As always, please find attached the new booklet of events for this term.
We are very sorry to have to mark the death, far too young, of Professor Chris Wickham, former Chichele Professor of Medieval History and supporter and friend to medieval studies at Oxford. Chris treated everyone in the medieval community alike, whether they be first-year undergraduates or fellow professors, and he was interested in (and tried to attend, as much as he could) everything that was going on. You can read the OMS obituary here.
Monday
- French Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 10:30, Weston Library. If you are interested in joining the group or would like more information, please email the convenor Laure Miolo.
- Books Medievalists Should Know – 2:00, Lincoln College. The focus this weeks is The Bible, introduced by Dr Cosima Gillhammer.
- Greek Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 15:00, Horton Room Weston Library. Contact Péter Tóth for further details.
- Medieval Archaeology Seminar – 3;00, Instittue of Archaeology. Jessica Nutt on ‘Passive or Peripheral? Rethinking Viking Conflict in Early Medieval Wales’.
- Medieval History Seminar: – 5:00, All Souls College. Rory Naismith (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge) on “Rethinking Offa of Mercia”.
- Medieval Latin Reading Group – 5.30pm in Merton College. The text this term is Ysengrimus.
Tuesday
- Latin Palaeography Manuscript Reading Group – 2pm, Weston Library. SPECIAL SESSION – Dr Sofia Orsino (Richard Sharpe Memorial Visiting Fellow at the Weston Library) on ‘From Twelfth-Century French Classrooms to Italian Humanistic Libraries. Texts ad travels of a Latin manuscript in the Canonici collection’. Those who are interested can email the convenor Laure Miolo.
- Byzantine Literature Lectures – 4:00, Kloppenburg Room, Exeter College.
Wednesday
- Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures – 11:00, Weston Library. Chinese Special Collections Masterclass with Mamtimyn Sunuodula (Head of East Asian Materials, Bodleian Libraries). (NB: No bags, food or drink allowed; please leave in lobby lockers)
- Medieval German Graduate Seminar – 11:15, Somerville College. The topics for the term will be Frauenlob, Kreuzleich and Minneleich. If you are interested to be added to the teams group for updates, please contact Almut Suerbaum
- Christine de Pizan & Gender in the Late Middle Ages Seminar – 2:00, Weston Library. Prof. Helen Swift (Oxford) on “Encountering Christine de Pizan in 2026”; Prof. Andrea Valentini (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle), on ‘ Lire les textes de Christine de Pizan autrement ‘ (please note that Prof. Valentini’s presentation will be in French).
- Byzantine Text Seminar – 3:00, Kloppenberg Room, Exeter College.
- Old Norse Reading Group – 4:00. Please email Brooklyn Arnold for the location
- The Medieval Latin Documentary Palaeography Reading Group – 4:00, online. To join and/or to find out more about this and the possibility of some hands-on experience of cataloguing such documents to develop further your research skills, please contact Michael Stansfield.
- Late Antique and Byzantine Seminar – 5:00, Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies. Hallie G. Meredith on ‘Women’s Work: A Social History of Late Antique Industrial Glass Producers’.
- Bede Reading Group – 6:00, Blackfriars. Bede, wine, and merriment – all are welcome.
Thursday
- Middle English Reading Group (MERG) – 10:00, Beckington Room, Lincoln College. The text this year is Troilus and Criseyde. Bring any edition of the original text! There will be tea and biscuits. For more information or to be added to the mailing list, please email Rebecca Menmuir.
- Medieval English Research Seminar – 12:15, room 00.018 in the Humanities Centre. Laura Kalas (U of Swansea) on ‘A reproductive imaginary: the medieval Pinea and women ’s visionary writings’.
- Medieval Women’s Writing Research Seminar – 4:00, Magdalen College (meet at lodge). The Art of Storytelling, including extracts from the works of Murasaki Shikibu and Marie de France
- Seminars in Medieval and Renaissance Music – 5:00, online. David Catalunya (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) on ‘Divine Harmony in Bronze Pipes: The Bethlehem Organ as a Practical Source for Pythagorean Theory’. See booklet for sign-up form.
- Celtic Seminar – 5:15, Room 00.056 in the Humanities Centre and online. Brendan Kane (Connecticut) on ‘An early modern Gaelic Atlantic? Center and periphery in Irish political thought, c. 1600–1840’.
- Compline in the Crypt – 9:30, St Edmund Hall
Friday
- Medievalist Coffee Morning – 10:30, Weston Library. Laura Cracknell will be speaking on ‘History of photography at the Bodleian’. Coffee and tea provided
- Exploring Medieval Oxford through Surviving Archives – 2:00, Magdalen College. As space is limited, registration is required. Those interested in participating are invited to contact Laure Miolo
- Church historian pub trip – 6:00, The Chequers.
Opportunities (see booklet for more info)
- CfP – Unexpected Journeys: New Pathways through Iberian History. More information here.
- Call for Readers of Early New High German for the launch of a Hans Sachs dialogue on 30 October. More information
- Call for Committee Members: Oxford Medieval Graduate Conference 2027 – contact oxgradconf@gmail.com.
- OMS Small Grants open. Closing date for applications: Friday of Week 4. More information.
- Medieval Afterlives: Cultural Programme Open Call – investment of up to £10,000, see booklet.
- The Multicultural Middle Ages podcast proposal for 6th season. Applications are due October 15th.
- Medieval Manors Research Network/Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at the University of Notre Dame. Art (History), English, German / Slavic / Eurasian, History and Philosophy of Science, Initiative on Race and Resilience, Philosophy, Romance Languages, Theology; international applications and medievalists welcome!
- Publishing with the Journal Manuscript and Text Cultures – see booklet for details.
- John W. Baldwin Post -Doctoral Fellowship. A two-year position beginning July 1, 2027, for recent Ph.D. recipients whose work focuses on European medieval studies within a global comparative context. The application deadline is November 13, 2026 .